


Non-beginnings

by twahtohnedskee



Series: Bookmarked [1]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Bookstore!AU, F/M, M/M, WIP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-01
Updated: 2013-05-01
Packaged: 2017-12-10 03:03:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/781027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twahtohnedskee/pseuds/twahtohnedskee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end, but not necessarily in that order. This moment is worth noting because it happens to be none of those things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Non-beginnings

It doesn't start in senior year, when Arthur came out to his friends as blunt and straightforward as he was in every aspect of his life. The subsequent reactions were nothing special. Mal had grabbed him by the shoulders, kissed him on both cheeks, said that she loved him, and thanked him for telling her. Dom had given him a bit of an awkward smile and a pat on the shoulder. Arthur was glad he chose to tell them at the same time, otherwise Dom’s inability to deal with the combination of other people and feelings would have been this side of painful. 

Even if the story doesn't start here, this non-beginning is important. As often happened with couples who have a friend who is single, both Dom and Mal assumed that Arthur was lonely and in need of companionship. Or at least needed to get laid. So Mal, wonderful, well-meaning, naive, Mal, had tried to set Arthur up with a lot of guys. Arthur, it should be noted, was not in fact as lonely as they made him out to be. He was perfectly fine with his single status and while it was a little grating to be around a couple as physically affectionate as Mal and Dom all the time, he honestly doubted that being in a relationship would change that. But Mal put work into finding him dates, so he obliged. None of them really took off. 

It was the night of the homecoming game and while no one could remember if their team had won or not, no one doubted that the party afterwards was fucking fantastic. Mal was a cheerleader and was naturally drawn to the crowd of screaming, drinking, pubescents. Arthur came along because Mal had said she had someone she wanted him to meet. Arthur, by now, knew exactly what that meant. 

Dom, Mal and Arthur walked into the house (Arthur hadn’t even bothered learning whose house they’d be crashing this time) and the music thumping against the walls and windows assaulted them. People were already half-way to drunk, with many of the earlier party-goers already past it. Arthur slinked into the kitchen as Mal and Dom made circuits around the party, saying hello to this acquaintance and that like a pair of married politicians. Arthur grabbed himself a cup half-full with beer, and made his way back into the living room where most of the action was going on. He found a girl from his photography club and chatted with her for a while before scanning the room to see where Dom and Mal had gotten to. He needn’t have, really, because a few seconds later, Mal was pulling on his hand and smiling at him brightly. She dragged him over to where Dom was standing with a tall boy Arthur hadn’t met before.  


“Eames!” she said. “This is Arthur.”  


She turned to Arthur then, “Eames and I are in the Drama club together. I think you two will really hit it off.”  


Eames smiled at him and stuck his hand out to shake. Arthur took it, rather awkwardly.  


“Nice to meet you.”  


Eames' accent came as a surprise.  


Mal giggled, "I’ll leave you two to get to know each other then.”  


And with that she dragged Dom, away from the two. As he passed Dom gave Arthur an apologetic look and a pat on the shoulder that clearly read: good luck. 

They really didn’t have much in common and after the first few minutes what little conversation there was dissolved into an uncomfortable silence, with Arthur staring into his drink and Eames staring off, almost wistfully at the crowd of dancing teens. Arthur was half-afraid he was gonna ask him to dance. Eventually Arthur decided to put them both out of their misery. 

“Look, I’m sorry that Mal roped you into this, and I don’t know what she told you but this is getting really awkward.” 

And for some reason this had been exactly the thing needed to break the ice. Eames looked at him in shock before giving a laugh that made him throw his head back. 

“Wow, you really are something.” 

After that, the conversation flowed more easily. Arthur found that the best way to reach Eames was to be his usual blunt self. They argued a bit, as much as people can when they've just met. Eames took to teasing Arthur about his many advocacies and it proved to be an amusing evening. But in the end, even if their company was enjoyable for the most part, neither felt anything remotely romantic towards the other. 

When Mal and Dom had gone to do retcon, the former with Eames and the later with Arthur they got the following responses. 

“He was alright, just a bit of a stick in the mud, you know? Not really my type.” 

“Kind of shallow, don’t you think? I mean, he was nice but I’d appreciate someone I could actually talk to.” 

It wasn’t much of a beginning to a love story, was it? Well, that’s because it wasn’t. 

There was to be another non-beginning before the story actually progressed.

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this damn fic in my head for a year now and I'm finally getting around to posting it. Comments are lovely, as usual. Please don't be afraid to call me out on anything. Feedback is always appreciated. 
> 
> Also, Kara, I'm sorry this took so long. 
> 
> Credit for the title of the series goes to Chelsea.


End file.
